
CITIZENS' VOICE
of TREASURE ISLAND
"Promoting Transparency and Integrity”

Please read the email sent to the commission and city manager this morning by resident, Mark Hohe. Mr. Anderson, At this past Tuesday's Commission workshop discussion of the Terrain Modification Manual and the ordinances that supports it, the Commission directed City staff to incorporate the 9 conditions as outlined by the LPA, then bring the revised TMM and ordinances back before the Commission for review at the next available meeting. Being that Commission meeting agendas and information packets are posted only a few days before the meeting, I ask that the Community Development Department (the sponsors of the TMM) clearly mark, highlight, underline or in whatever manner possible identify the changes that are being made to the Manual and the attendant ordinances. The most recent version of the TMM (as presented at the 12/19/24 LPA meeting) was 147 pages and the narrative that accompanied the ordinances was another 171 pages. It is too much to expect the Commissioners, as well as the public, to be able to read through all of this material in a few days in order to verify that the 9 conditions have been incorporated into the revised documentation. By properly identifying that the changes that the Commission required in the TMM, and ordinances have been made, this will save time before and during the Commission meeting. Thanks in advance for seeing that this is done. Regards, Mark Hohe
Substantial Damage Determination Letters (For Single Family Homes)
In furtherance of our mission to Put TI Residents First, we are providing this link to the City’s Website which identifies the addresses that have been sent a Substantial Damage Determination Letter (SDDL) through December 3, 2024. The city manager has said approximately 2,200 TI Residents will be receiving an SDDL. So, you can see there are a lot of SDDLs yet to be mailed.
Accuracy of Letters and Amounts of Damages
Residents are all over Social Media expressing concern about the accuracy of the Substantial Damage Determinations made by the “walk by” inspections. One resident who spoke at the December 6th Commission workshop indicated City Staff input was also not accurate. When given the choice of 2 different valuation numbers to use, the City Staff chose the valuation that was most detrimental to the TI Resident and incorrectly determined the house to be Substantially Damaged. To say this type of action is concerning, is a gross understatement and we can only hope it was a one-time oversight error. Unfortunately, the City Manager and Staff have previously declared war on single story homes (remember Elevate TI) so doing whatever it takes to determine a home as Substantially Damaged fits their narrative.
What You Should Do
If you have received a SDDL indicating your home is greater than 50% damaged, you should immediately DEMAND (the complete five-page) SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE ESTIMATOR PRINT OUT from the city. The City can no longer tell you FEMA has the information because Congresswoman Luna’s office completely debunked that piece of City misinformation. There are confirmed reports that the City has incorrectly told Residents their houses were over 50% damaged when it was not. Unless the communication has changed, the City is not even bothering to tell you how much over the 50% threshold your damages are. They simply say you are Substantially Damaged! The biggest decision many Residents will ever have to make with their TI home and our City Staff (none who live in TI) have decided, Pass or Fail is good enough without any support for their conclusion.
CVTI and Option 2
Almost 7 weeks ago the professionals at CVTI did their homework and researched the Options for FEMA Substantial Damages reporting. CVTI made the correct determination that Option 2 was the best course of action for a City the size of TI. Two weeks later on November 1, the Commissioners approved Option 2. But the City Staff have chosen to ignore Option 2 and continue on with upfront SDDLs as required per Option 1. The upfront SDDLs are not required under Option 2. The Substantial Damages Determination amount under Option 2 is made when the Residents submit their permit applications.
Both Option 1 and Option 2 require a Substantial Damages Determination for houses. It is just a matter of whether you rely on a “walk by” inspection which produces an estimate of damages or an actual inspection which produces actual damages by a General Contractor for making the Substantial Damages determination. Not surprising, the actual cost to repair under Option 2 is proving to be the most accurate method. But the City, refuses to pivot away from the non-accurate “walk by” inspections for their Substantial Damage Determinations and are waiting on the SDDLs to be issued.
Remember as previously reported, the City Manager made the determination to go with Option 1 without approval from the Commissioners. We are now stuck in neutral because of this decision and may actually be slipping into reverse as we are seeing nothing but issues with the City’s handling of the “walk by” inspection reports. The stress and anguish caused by the City Manager’s ill-conceived idea to move Option 1 forward without Commissioner’s approval came through loud and clear at this past Friday’s meeting.
It is indisputable at this point, if Option 2 had been properly implemented 7 weeks ago, a majority of TI Residents may have been back in their homes for Christmas.
Immediate Action
Please share this email with your family, neighbors and friends and ask them to go to join our mailing list: Citizens' Voice TI Mailing List.
Also contact the Mayor and Commissioners and ask them to Pivot to Option 2 reporting and take the pressure off the permitting process.
City of Treasure Island Commissioners and Mayor Contact Information:
John Doctor, Mayor – (727) 340-0115
email: jdoctor@mytreasureisland.org
Deb Toth, Commissioner District 1 – (727) 748-5178
email: dtoth@mytreasureisland.org
Diana Crabill, Commissioner District 2 - (727) 748-5062
dcrabill@mytreasureisland.org dcrabill@mytreasureisland.org
Bob Minning, Commissioner District 3 – 727-748-6281
email: bminning@mytreasureisland.org
Arden Dickey, Commissioner District 4 – (727)748-6368
email: adickey@mytreasureisland.org

Show Up and Speak up at Tonight’s Commission Meeting and Workshop.
6:00pm at City Hall (DEC 3)
Fill Dirt, YES, but with No Mandates
Despite being in the middle of a Permit Crisis that is growing in magnitude by the day, City Staff with the support of certain Commissioners are trying to bring back Elevate TI and its MANDATE for fill dirt when the vast majority residents are not able to live in their TI homes. Can the City really be that tone deaf? Focus should be solely on issuing permits and getting people back into their homes, especially the 50% of the residents who have already received substantial damage assessments!
Most everyone in TI wants fill dirt but without any MANDATES or other components of the ill-conceived Elevate TI. The City’s representation that a simple fill dirt ordinance without mandate strings attached would take 12 months is hard to believe and that claim should be investigated by having a third party independent firm review.
The one and only thing the Commission should be focused on is issuing Permits Now so people can rebuild their homes.
Please Show Up and Speak Up tonight at City Hall at 6:00pm:
- Fill Dirt with NO MANDATES
- Elevate TI was defeated by Commissioners Doctor, Minning, and Dickey on August 20th. It's time to move forward with a simple fill dirt ordinance nothing more nothing less.
- Permits Now based solely on Contractors Damage Assessments

Show Up and Speak Up-Dec 3, 6:00pm at City Hall
CVTI highly recommends that you attend the Dec 3rd Commission meeting at 6:00 PM and let the Commission know that you expect rapid changes in the system to help people receive permits, repair storm damage and move back into their home at the earliest date possible.
Helping TI Residents get back into their homes has to be the number 1 and only priority of the Commission.

Permit-Gate-Day 54: Still No Rebuild Permits Issued
Please read carefully the letter below sent to the City Commissioners from Retired Circuit Judge Anthony Johnson.
TI Residents have had to endure 54 days without any Rebuild Permits being issued for one reason. Mayor Payne, Commissioner Toth, Chuck Anderson, Stacy Boyles, Kathryn Younkin, and Jenniffer Cowan decided to move forward with Option 1 without any public discussion or vote by the City Commissioners. This led to the TI Residents being subjected to unnecessary Substantial Damages inspections which have turned into nothing but a huge bottleneck.
City Commissioners adopted Option 2 but City Staff has been openly denying the will of the Commissioners and continuing forward with Option 1 and trying to use outside inspectors for making the Substantial Damage assessments. Option 2 allows for permits to be issued immediately based on a contractor’s determination of the Substantial Damages amount. What a missed opportunity for the TI Residents.
It was a City Staff person telling the retired Circuit Judge that he had been instructed by his superiors to continue on with Option 1 that prompted the letter below.
From: Anthony H Johnson, Treasure Island resident
To all Treasure Island elected officials
November 14, 2024
I am a resident of the Isle of Capri on Tresure Island. I am writing to express my deep concern and frustration over the response of the city of Treasure Island to the recent hurricane impact. Specifically, the actions of the city staff in not issuing permits to repair our homes until damage determinations are made under FEMA option one, in direct defiance of the City Council consensus to use option two.
As you know, the homes of many residents, including myself, were damaged by flooding and were made uninhabitable. We had hoped and expected that we would be able to repair the damage and reoccupy our homes in a timely manner. That was forty-eight days ago, and no permits have yet to be issued to repair damaged homes.
The city got off to a rocky start when the previous Mayor, along with the city staff, without consensus or majority vote of the elected officials, chose to adopt Option one under section 7.5 of the FEMA desk reference. That ill-advised action by the city staff, without permission of the elected representatives, caused the city to expend funds to hire inspectors to determine whether structures sustained “substantial damage” using a “estimator” software that is much less accurate than a determination based upon the determination that would be made during the traditional permitting process authorized under option two. It also caused confusion and delay. If option two had been chosen initially, permits could have been issued within a few days and many of us would be back in our repaired homes.
On November 1, almost two weeks ago, after a public hearing, the council members came to a consensus that the city should proceed under option two.
The city staff is openly defying the elected officials by proceeding as they wish, not as they were directed. This morning, I was informed that a permit would not be issued until the results of the inspection (required by option one) were known. The city staff continues to use option one as the method of determining substantial damage. This process is in direct defiance of the decision by the elected officials.
We recognize that our elected officials are in a difficult position. The citizens elected you to the position you hold because we trusted you to look out for our interests, and you seem inclined to do so. City employees do not seem to care what we citizens, or even you elected officials want. They have their own agenda which seems to conflict with the best interests of the residents. The staff works for you, the representatives that we citizens elect to act on our behalf. If they refuse to follow your direction, you have the right, perhaps the obligation, to fire them. I strongly suggest that the party or parties responsible for this fiasco, who I understand to be Stacy Boyles, Kathyrn Younkin, and or the city manager, be dismissed immediately. I understand that the council members cannot fire Boyles directly. You can, however, fire the city manager if he declines to fire Boyles. In fact, I suggest that you consider firing him in any case because he allowed his employees to defy your direction.
I informed the city inspectors that if the city decided that if my home was found to be substantially damaged as a result of the FEMA inspection, I would sue the city for using the option one method which was not authorized by the city council. The substantial damage determination, pursuant to the consensus of the city council, should be made only under option two.
People are angry and demand action from the elected leadership. The staff has created a problem for us residents who have been displaced from our homes for forty-eight days, and a political problem for you since most people hold the elected officials responsible for the actions of their staff.
I further suggest that the city attorney has not acted in the interest of the city officials or residents and must be replaced.
Please make personnel changes as needed and direct the staff to begin issuing permits to repair damaged homes immediately.
Respectfully submitted,
Anthony H Johnson
MISSION STATEMENT
To collaborate with the city of Treasure Island to achieve common sense leadership driven by integrity and the taxpayers.
PURPOSE
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To educate and advocate to ensure sound public policy for the citizens of Treasure Island
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To provide voter engagement, grassroots organizing and legislative advocacy to educate and engage the community in its purposes.
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To conduct research designed to better improve communications with the public.
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To gather, analyze and disseminate data and public opinion research needed to assist in reaching the goals of the organization.
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To serve as a core organization to bring together citizens and representatives of other organizations which have common goals.
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To conduct fundraising activities for the production of revenues adequate to carry out the purposes of the organization.
Citizens’ Voice of Treasure Island · CitizensVoiceTI@gmail.com
PO BOX 67284, St. Pete. Beach, FL 33736